Abebech Afework

Kenya’s Priscah Jeptoo and Ethiopian Meselech Melkamu will battle out on 16th October at the TCS Amsterdam Marathon.

Though both Jeptoo and Melkamu have both run under 2:21.09, Jeptoo is the favorite to win this race considering her recent wins in London, Paris and New York.

Her trophy cabinet also holds a silver Olympic medal. In 2012, she ran a strong race and the Kenya missed out on the Olympic title by just five seconds. After these extremely successful years, she struggled with injuries, having broken her leg during the 2014 London marathon.

“I have been training hard and I am feeling really fit”, she says. “I am really looking forward to Amsterdam and will be delighted if I can run it in 2.22”.

Melkamu has had an impressive career on the roads and in cross-country events. The Ethiopian has won five bronze medals at the cross-country World Championships. She set an African record time of 29:53.83 in 10,000m in 2009.

She also came second in the same year in Berlin during the World Championships. In 2012, she changed disciplines to the marathon. During her debut, she won in France with a time of 2.21.01. Victories in Daegu and Hamburg followed soon after. The latter was her most recent victory, in April with a time of 2.21.54. In January, she was also third in Dubai with 2.22.29.

Others in the race are Ethiopian Abebech Afework, who clocked 2:23:33 in Dubai last year and Kenyan Lucy Karimi, who won the Prague Marathon in May in 2:24:46.